With the progress of medical science and technology, the life expectancy of the modern people is being increased year by year. Most of the major countries are becoming an ageing population society. For the elderly living in residences of designs having upper and lower floors, a stairway is necessary for them to do daily activities. This causes certain troubles to the elderly or the disabled people.
Various small-sized lifts are available at present for being installed inside a residence. Among these lifts, one is a household lift of which the installation requires a lift shaft. Another one is a stairway lift that comprises a rail that is arranged to follow the spiral of a stairway and is mounted to a wall of a stairway. The lift that requires a lift shaft often occupies an excessive amount of space and the installation may requires damages made on the building and the subsequent maintenance expenditure is high. The stairwell lift can be installed without concerns about constrained imposed by the limited space, but the stairway lift, when moving upwards along the rail, is readily susceptible to vibration and shaking and may thus cause concerns of safety. In addition, the stairway lift and the rail often need to occupy a major part of the space of the stairway, making it inconvenient to walk or to carry articles through the stairway.
Thus, the present invention aims to provide a lift that occupies a less amount of space and is safe and convenient in order to overcome the issue of moving between upper and lower floors in a residence.